Spain’s Fabi Perez Ajates (Con Tus Manos) makes stacks of beads and bangles and brooches look like fascinating ceramic sculptures.
The holes and ridges and shapes in her imitative ceramic pieces all have dual purposes.
They can be worn or piled up in endlessly entertaining ways that form totems.
Fabi calls this her Coraline Jewelry since the pieces were inspired by oceanic reefs.
Scroll down Fabi’s blog to see how she plays with her jewelry. (via Sue Ossenberg)
Don’t try to predict where your ideas will take you. Hop on Mari O’Dell’s magic carpet to see what I mean.
Mari’s journey started in the mummy section of the NYC Met Museum where she hung out as a teenager.
Recently she took my “Slots and Dots” online polymer class and reconnected with her Egyptian impulses. She learned to extrude narrow tube beads like those found in the layers of mummy wrappings. In Mari’s version, a scarab and beads dusted with metallics are interspersed with her imitative ancient faience tubes.
Beads are an ancient form of art and currency. Their echoes still ricochet around the globe. Please wait until the carpet comes to a complete stop before you leave your seat. Who says we can’t travel during a pandemic?
If you’d like to recharge your batteries, join us over at StudioMojo.
Normally, pink isn’t what you’d think of as a soothing color. But these pinkish canes from the UK’s Dayl Goulsbra-Jones (Planet.Isis) provide the perfect stress-reliever.
The patterns are organized and repetitive and well-executed. Look at them and exhale.
I should have more to say, but I don’t. They make me giddy. Think pink.
Did Monday’s post sound distressed? Thanks for your condolences. You know how those moments go. I finished in the nick of time and the box is in the mail. I’m over it.
Then I came across Briget Derc’s latest wall piece for her home and I’m humbled. It’s so complex and multi-layered.
There’s a difference between “must-make-25 quickly” and making something that you’ll walk by every night on your way to the bathroom for the next 10 years. No judgments, it’s just a different way of working.
Much of Bridget comes through in her intense 12″x12″ polymer painting. She shows a fascinating step-by-step on Flickr.
I was about to hang an “out of order” shingle on the blog today. I have 24 swap items that need to get in the mail tomorrow.
Why not let you see my kitchen counter/studio in a frantic mess as I cut out my flowers? A couple of tools I need are in the “real” studio, of course.
It’s a flower theme. These are flowers that will be put on wires/stakes to grace gardens. We try not to be competitive but who are we kidding? I made my own templates from takeout containers. (I seem to have a lot of those.) That’s a story for later.
Twelve more cutouts and I can go to bed. You’re not seeing the finished product. With any luck, I can group them for a shot tomorrow. Yawn! Wish me luck. Procrastinators unite!
Monday can be a shock to the system and sometimes it helps to start slowly. What could be easier than buttons?
These simple gems from France’s Helene JeaneClaude have a surprising sophistication. The shape is common but the patterns are exciting. Some have a fiber look, others could be stone.
She may have used silkscreens over marbled clay. Go to her Instagram to see lots of others. Helene has been in a button mood lately and her methods change from batch to batch.
Swap out ho-hum buttons with your own fashionable versions. Two holes in a colorful slab of polymer and you can extend the life of your favorite sweater or jacket.
How can this tattooed and pierced young thing who looks so together be the “mother of four”? Indiana’s Aliza Cochran (velvetorangedesigns) brings us Fashion Friday.
I would want to be her but then I’d have four kids to raise. Better to be a grandma.
Aliza continually posts on Etsy and comes up with cool new designs in the middle of the night.
Her specialty is solid color cutouts with lots of dangly bits that shout, “Look over here!”
Sometimes it’s nice to leave all the techniques behind and just go for drama.
Speaking of drama, come on over to Saturday’s StudioMojo. If you’re looking to stay ahead of the curve and need a creative breathmint for the week ahead, you’ll enjoy how we dish about the latest.
Melbourne’s Allie Robinson (irisheyes6868) follows her fingers as she plays with clay. They have been leading her to a world of textures. This floral tile is covered with what looks like miles of ultra-thin spiraling ruffled-edged ribbons of clay. Other experiments are covered with bumps and dents and flourishes.
When most artists flock left to liquid polymer, Allie heads right to acrylic paint. Some of her earrings are painted with crazy intense dots. She hears a different drumbeat.
You can tell that Allie is just getting up to speed with her ideas and her hands are trying to keep up. She’ll be one to watch on FB and IG.
What is it about these scrap collaborations that seem so au courant? Ron Lehocky uses Laurie Prophater’s scrap veneers to make controlled, comprehensible patterns. Ron makes order out of what looks like colorful chaos.
That’s what we’re hungry for. Wouldn’t we all like to know how to make beauty and sense of what swirls around us?
Enough with the philosophy. How does Ron tap into fashion and zeitgeist at the same time? It has to do with his special brand of Ronnie Gane and the long threaded rod you see in this photo.
I’m hoping that he’ll jump in here to explain the mystery. Here’s the back story.
Ron is mighty close to reaching his goal of 50,000 hearts sold to benefit the Kids’ Project in Kentucky.
Australia’s Melanie Allan (innervisionpc) lights up her polymer! What looks like a lovely glass bottle covered with polymer cane slices comes to life when lit from within.
Melanie definitely has a “cane brain” that gravitates to very complex patterns that she brings to life in big kaleidoscope canes.
Here’s the surprising part. Melanie zooms out from the big kaleidoscope and focuses back in on the juiciest, most spectacular smaller patterns. Those smaller patterns she features in earrings.
When you look at her IG and FB, concentrate on big pattern/small pattern to follow how she moves in and out.
